Realization of a design from concept to implementation is a challenge, particularly as it relates to the construction industry. In the construction industry, architects, planners, engineers and the like are charged with the task of conceptualizing ideas and reducing the concepts to tangible form such as design drawings, that can then be implemented by contractors in the field. The implementation or construction process can be an arduous task, the success of which relies heavily on the ability of a contractor to accurately replicate the dimensions and spatial relationships shown in the drawings or design documents pertaining to the particular project at hand. Errors by contractors in replicating what the design documents indicate are a common feature of construction practice and one that oftentimes results in costly corrective action. In some instances, the error is due to the lack of a real appreciation of the characteristics of a site at which construction is to take place. For example, if the design for a space to be renovated calls for a door to be placed in a specific location and that location at the construction site turns out to have a column in the exact location where the door is called for, a costly redesign of the design drawings may become necessary. Another common occurrence that leads to costly remedial measures is where inaccurate layout of a construction site leads to construction of major elements of the design in the wrong place leading to costly retrofitting when the error is ultimately discovered.
Generally, the success of any construction project relies heavily on good dimensional controls that can be relied upon so that the spatial relationships contemplated in a design can be accurately reproduced in the field. Dimensional controls are usually the province of architects, tradesman (e.g., electricians, plumbers, Drywall installers) or surveyors. Typical ‘as built studies’ or surveying tasks include measuring or surveying a site to determine existing conditions and the layout of benchmarks, reference points and other monuments that can be used to properly orient the contractors as they build out the design. When errors occur in the performance of these tasks, the type of errors described above result. Sometimes errors are not due to inaccurate measurements or ‘as built studies’, but rather to poor control of monuments such as when a monument or benchmark such as a stake is inadvertently knocked over or a pencil mark is inadvertently smeared in the field by a person or a piece of equipment. It is not entirely uncommon for a workman in a situation such as this to simply replace the pencil mark or stake in a location thought to have been its original location but which, is actually not the original location. When this occurs, any subsequent reference to this benchmark will result in errors resulting from the fact that a dimensional control is now in the wrong place but not known to be in the wrong place. Moreover, errors resulting from the use of the now inaccurate reference point can be further compounded by the fact that the errors may not be discovered for some time.
Errors in measurement or surveying, whether they are related to the study of a site or the layout of a design, can only be avoided by starting with a precise ‘as built verification’ and vigilant protection of benchmarks and monuments and their frequent re-verification. In practice, this task can be extremely time consuming and labor intensive typically requiring crews of personnel to revisit a site frequently and manually verify existing benchmarks and monuments or as needed, manually establish new benchmarks and monuments. There is a need, therefore, for a way to quickly and accurately measure or survey a construction site to determine its attributes, layout for construction or re-verify dimensional controls such as benchmarks and monuments.